Senator Bato Dela Rosa urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to be proactive in the campaign against illegal drugs and make it a ‘personal fight’ to protect their families from being victims of crimes linked to illegal drugs.
Dela Rosa, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said policemen should keep close to their hearts their roles in the ongoing drive against illegal drugs instead of treating them as mere employment.
“Well, para doon sa mga kapulisan natin, ‘no, palagi ko sinasabi sa kanila noong ako pa ang hepe nila, alam n’yo, ‘yung problema sa droga ay dapat isapuso ninyo ‘yan dahil ang aking standard is kung sabi ng iba, ‘Trabaho lang, walang personalan,’ sa akin, personalan ito, hindi ito trabaho lang,” the legislator said.
“Pepersonalin ko itong mga kriminal na ito, lalo na itong involved sa droga dahil ang mga posibleng mga magiging biktima nito’y mga anak ko, mga apo ko.”
“Pepersonalin ko itong mga kriminal na ito, lalo na itong involved sa droga dahil ang mga posibleng mga magiging biktima nito’y mga anak ko, mga apo ko,” the lawmaker stressed.
He was the chief of the Philippine National Police in the first few years of the Duterte administration and headed at that time the government’s no-nonsense war on drugs.
The senator expressed hope that heinous crimes, especially those committed by suspects under the influence of illegal drugs which have decreased greatly in the last few years, won’t be rampant again and called on the PNP to be proactive and aggressive.
“Kailangan unahan na natin ito sila, hindi po pwedeng maghintay tayo.”
“Kailangan unahan na natin ito sila, hindi po pwedeng maghintay tayo. So, dapat, kayong mga pulis, proactive tayo sa ating trabaho. Isipin ninyo palagi na ‘yung ginagawa ninyo, hindi lang ‘yan performance of duty, kundi isipin ninyo, ginagawa ninyo ‘yan para sa kapakanan ng inyong mga anak, mga apo na pwedeng magiging biktima nitong mga lango sa pinagbabawal na droga,” Dela Rosa stressed.
“Kaya dapat kayong mga pulis, eh agresibo kayo. ‘Wag kayong papatay-patay diyan dahil alam mo na, kawawa ang mga kabataan talaga. Ang pinakabiktima nito mga babae na nagtatrabaho tuwing gabi, pag-uwi aabangan lang, tapos na, ni-rape na, pinatay na, sinunog pa. ‘Sus! Hindi natin papayagan na manumbalik ‘yung ganong klaseng sitwasyon, ‘no,” he added.
The former top cop refiled some of his 18th Congress priority bills related to the war on drugs in the 19th Congress including the revival of death penalty for large-scale drug traffickers (SBN 198), institutionalization of the Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (SBN 203), and Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation (SBN 202).
